Ciocc World 77

I picked up a 1986 Ciocc World 77 on craigslist. It was in decent shape, totally complete, and, most importantly, my size! I typically like to assemble my own drivetrain so I can gear it soft for the hills. This one is geared very aggressively, chainrings: 42-52 and sprockets: 13-14-15-16-17-19-21.b This means I ride it mostly as a single speed in its lowest gear and never go uphill. Since it had a little rust and hard oxidation holes in the paint I feel okay about riding it for errands and commuting. Kinda makes me feel less bad about thrashing it in normal use.



I also did a little clean up just for the hobby of it. I prepped the big rust spot by sanding off rust with fine grit paper. You can also use steel wool, brass wool, or some crumpled aluminum foil depending on how much abrasiveness you need. I try to stick just to the spot, I don't mind a visible ridge of paint where it's chipped. Keeping the area you need to paint to a minimum is key, big spots are easier to see, especially if you don't mix your color right. I clean thoroughly with a damp cloth and make sure the site is free of debris or oils.



It took me a bit to get the color just right and hand-fill the broken decal. I touched up the big rust hole with a hand-mixed enamel, Testor's Dark Blue and Testor's Black for the body, and Testor's Steel for the decal lettering. Of course it looks better in this photo than close up IRL, but still better than a gapping rust spot. I ended up re-dinging that spot and more oxidized paint chips fell off so I had to paint it again. I'm getting a lot of practice hand lettering the bottom of the W and the O.



The brakes were stiff but could stop okay. Changing the cables and cable housing did the trick, this bike can now skid like hell out of control when you don't modulate the rear brake.



New leather straps:



Fresh hoods, new tape, a slightly more aggressive road bar for short hops, and my 77 is ready for a trip to work.

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

Coming Soon

SSCXWC Recap

Filmmaker Chris Leavell captures the unique atmosphere of the 2011 Single Speed Cyclo-Cross World Championships. From Peleton.

What I Did this Weekend

We broke our records: 201 riders, 7,990 lbs. of food, $9,652 in donations.
http://supermarketstreetsweep.blogspot.com/

Theater

Wallpaper vs Wallpaper

Ray asked for some wallpaper.

Remember

Revolution

Gaining Entry

I'm honored to have gained entry into Jon Halperin's amazing art collection. Though perhaps the greatest honor is having him make a more permanent decision about my work:



Jon writes, "I've always had a extreme fondness for the muppets. A kermit graced my bed growing up. I am 42, and spent a day on the Sesame Street set in 1972. I am marrying my mexican girlfriend in November of 2012.....so a sugar skull kermit tattoo on the back of my leg just made sense."

The work was done by Dan Smith, singer and tattoo artist featured on TLC's television reality show, LA Ink.

>=C

Ampersand

Round 3

Process

Sometimes I like to play:

Waiting for the J

Process

A Good Name for a Bicycle Builder

Inspired by Cleaver Bikes.

Celebrate the Dead with Sugarfree Shipping

While you rot your teeth on your Halloween haul, save some sugar on shipping. I've got just a few prints left and if you get one before November 2, 2011, I'll ship it for free. Get your sugar.

Supermarket Street Sweep

This year I designed our poster with Jenny's Occupy theme idea:

The 6th Annual Supermarket Street Sweep: Dollars for Dinners

The 'Sweep is on again this year! Again we've got a ton of generous sponsors and a pile of amazing prizes. We're also, for the second year, running a fundraising contest from now until race day. The winning fundraiser will win a $500 coupon from our friends at Xtracycle. Visit the blog to see how you participate in the fundraiser, or make a donation on my donor page at Firstgiving.com.

Otherwise, if you're in SF on December 3, come out and ride with us! As always, high-noon at the Bow and Arrow. See you there! More on our blog, http://supermarketstreetsweep.blogspot.com/.

More Thanks

A quick note of thanks again to Stephen Weeks for another donation to Give2Asia Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund for his recent Tetsugar Blind acquisition. Again, I have a small number of blinds left and 100% of proceeds will be donated to Give2Asia to support the relief effort. Please contact me for more information.

Cookiexperiment, Healthy

I've been experimenting with lo-sugar, butterless cookies recently. I am learning about different binders and substitutes for butter and eggs. This recipe uses bananas and has no butter, sugar, or eggs. Good for your vegan frenz, if you have vegan frenz. So far my most successful experiment. The cookies end up savory and not super sweet. If you want something sweeter, use slightly overripe bananas and sweeter chocolate.

Since I've got a tiny kitchen and a tiny oven, I make half batches (also good to not have 3 dozen cookies lying around).

My recipe as shown:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk in a mixing bowl:
1 cup rolled oats
5 tbs. almond meal (I grind up raw unsalted almonds in my old bladed coffee grinder)
5 tbs. raw unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix in another bowl:
2 ripe bananas, fork mashed
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbs. olive oil

Mix wet ingredients into dry and fold in:
3 oz. 90% cocoa chocolate, broken into chunks

Spoon into 2 tsp flattened balls about an inch apart (they won't spread much) and sprinkle a few grains of coarse sea salt on each.

Bake for 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown (I was experimenting with 2 tbs globs that ended up taking 45 minutes to fully cook). Cool for about 5 minutes before you nom.

A Moment of Visual Silence

A special thanks to Stephen Weeks, Wendy Nakao from the Zen Center of Los Angeles, and Jason Morrow, for purchasing blinds in my auction to raise money for the Give2Asia Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Fund. If you're still interested, I have a small number of blinds available, and 100% of proceeds from the sale of these blinds will be donated to the relief effort.

Stephen and Wendy, I think a good way to preserve the visual silence is with a large white matte. If you have a companion here's what that might look like side by side:

Thank you again!

I also have a few more prints from the second series still available. Get them while they last here.

About Give2Asia

Give2Asia is a US 501 (c) (3) public charity, to which contributions are tax deductible (Federal Employer Identification #94-3373670). In accordance with federal law, Give2Asia has exclusive legal control over the assets contributed.

Sugar Too is Nigh!

It's been a while since the last series of sugar skulls but I'm glad to report that the next series is ready. Each print is hand-pressed on The Cranky Pressman's classic Vandercook, with vegetable based ink on Crane & Co.'s Lettra line of letterpress-specific paper stock. With magnesium plates and 110lb. 100% cotton paper this series is faithful to the first so if you have a print from my first series, these 12" x 12" prints will fit right in. This is a limited edition, five designs, 50 prints per design, hand-numbered and signed.



If you got a print in the presale, thank you! More importantly, your print is in the mail. Please let me know how your print arrived, I put more into packaging after seeing how the post office handled the last series.

Prototype:


Production:

About Series 2

This time around I'm working again from my childhood icons, but this time with a focus on my Japanese upbringing. While these icons might not be as popular in the US, some of them have influenced my aesthetic from very early on. Others, like the Domokun, are a nod to the continuing influence of the Japanese kawaii-cuteness in the modern dialect of commercial symbols and this thing called the Internet.



The artwork for the first skulls in this series were done just after I sold the last and after getting the illustration work to The Cranky Pressman, Japan was struck with the most devastating natural disaster in its history. I decided to add five blinds of each design as a visual moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives in the event. A blind deboss is a pressing without ink, the result is an impression in the paper but no inked surfaces. These blinds will be auctioned as a part of this series, each signed and numbered in an edition of 5 per design, with 100% of the proceeds going to the relief effort in Japan.





Previously on the web:
Wareground: This Ain't Daddy's Sugar Skull

USA Today: Sugar Skull Art, So Yummy!

Craftzine: Sugar Skull Art, So Yummy!

OMG Posters: Pop-Culture Calavera Prints by Jonathan Koshi

Monoscope: Jonathan Koshi: Sugar Skulls

BoingBoing: Dia de los Muertos skulls of Kermit the Frog, Alien, Pac-man, etc.

WIRED: Sugar Skull Prints Put Day-of-the-Dead Spin on Geeky Icons